Government invests in wastewater infrastructure

Fri, Jul 7th - 2:04pm

Residents and families in Centre Hastings and Deseronto will now have access to modern, reliable water and wastewater services that meet their needs.

On Friday, Hastings-Lennox and Addington MP Mike Bossio announced new water and wastewater projects within the aforementioned areas have been approved under the Government of Canada’s Clean Water and Wastewater Fund.

The federal government is providing $125,000 (including $75,000 from the Gas Tax Fund) for Centre Hastings and $66,171 for Deseronto. The provincial government is providing up to $25,000 for Centre Hastings and $33,085.75 for Deseronto. The municipal shares will cover the remaining costs at $115,000 for Centre Hastings, and $33,085.25 for Deseronto.

Thanks to these investments, residents of Centre Hastings will benefit from a project that will remove the built-up sludge at the Madoc Wastewater Lagoon to restore the design volume of 1008 m3/day. In Deseronto, the funding will go to the sewage pumping station’s electrical upgrades and manual transfer switch installations.

“It doesn’t get less glamourous than sewage infrastructure, but these are exactly the types of investments that we need to make to ensure our small rural communities have the capacity they need to sustain themselves and grow,” said MP Bossio who made the announcement on behalf of the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities.

“On behalf of the Municipality of Centre Hastings I would like to thank the federal and provincial governments for providing this grant,” said mayor of Centre Hastings Tom Deline. “Water and sewer infrastructure is costly and this will assist the municipality with maintaining this important service.”

“The Town of Deseronto would not have been able to make the much needed improvements to the water system without the support of both levels of government through the Clean Water Wastewater Fund. Small communities like Deseronto rely on support from all levels of government to assist with infrastructure upgrades,” said Deseronto Mayor Norm Clark. “Thanks to the ongoing support, Deseronto does not need to raise taxes for residents, so this funding is greatly appreciated.”